~Record highs this Flu Season~

In the history of Mercy Hospital there have never been such 

a high number of Influenza cases being admitted; lucky Travis, he's on emergency medicine this month... so he's stayed busy. 

And at home... we've also had the flu. 

Long story short, for weeks we've been sick, and occasionally have enough energy to get up and do a few things here and there. 

We celebrated Valentines day at home real low-key. 

Travis's schedule this month has had him working 12pm-12am so he's been able to take the boys out on dates, and my sweet neighbor watched Aaron the other night so Maddix and I could go on a date and attend his school's : Trolls Movie Night. I made him get all dressed up, I got dressed up, he opened my door, and held my hand, and we shared a bag of popcorn; he was a wonderful little date. 

One day during the week Travis was able to go to Maddix's school and have lunch time with him; they encourage the parents to drop in whenever they can and share a lunch with the kids. Maddix loved showing off his dad. 

Today Maddix and I are still sick, but Travis and Aaron have recovered, so they took a lunch date and little Aaron was SO excited when he saw Travis getting ready to leave, "We get to go on a date? with Me? And You? Together? YES!" 

We've also been enjoying Mondays as they're Travis's day off so he gets to pick Maddix up from school, the boys all play lego star wars in the evening, we have F.H.E and then Grandpa Vaughn has been face timing and reading with the boys just before bed; he even mailed out several bags of treats so they can choose one each Monday to open and eat while they read. 

Sick Aaron stayed asleep while I carried him to the car, strapped him in,
picked up Maddix, and carried him back into the house... 

I got to help with Maddix's Valentine's party:) 

Maddix's photo of me sick on the couch. 

Monday night reading with Grandpa Vaughn

My love bug

These two were covered in mud

Poor little sick guys; this is where I found
him reading while quarantined in his room.

My date night with Maddix

Aaron's lunch date with Daddy

~It takes a Village~

According to Wikipedia,
                  "It takes a village to raise a child is a proverb which means that it takes an entire community to raise a child: A child has the best ability to become a healthy adult if the entire community takes an active role in contributing to the rearing of the child."

And you can believe it took a village to make my birthday weekend happen last week. 

Tuesday: Birthday calls, cards, well wishes started rolling in all week:) 

Wednesday: My wonderful friends held a birthday lunch for me

Thursday: Travis & the boys gave me my presents and made me a cake

Friday: We took the boys to our friends, dropped the dog at our neighbors, and set off for St. Paul where we barely made it a sealing session at the LDS Temple there. We followed that up with a few hours exploring the Minneapolis Museum of Art and then got to check in to the hotel; and yes, we did jump on the bed because Maddix asked us to:) For dinner we found this awesome restaurant called The Cadillac Ranch; they had the best service, delicious food, and a live band. Then that night the boys went to our next friends' home. 

Saturday: We slept in, enjoyed a delicious healthy breakfast, then jumped back into bed (because it was FREEZING) and planned our future. We had so much time to relax and get ready before checking out and walking around the ENTIRE Mall of America. We topped the day off with a large trip to Costco then made our way home where we had Oreo shakes and stayed up late. 

Sunday: We were lucky to sleep in again, then picked up our boys and finished off Travis's Sun-Mon off work together as a family. 

Perfection. 

But it took so much work on the part of so many families just so we could get away for two nights. And they were so needed and rejuvenating. 

Having kids can make simple things so much more complicated; however, they make everything that much more enjoyable. I missed them the moment we drove away. I loved every minute with just Travis. 

Now I'm ready to get away again! ;) Or... I'm just ready for Winter to leave, sicknesses to go away, and Spring to warm us all back up! 

Birthday lunch Outfit

Actual Birthday: Groundhogs Day

 Weekend Away